certificate of need

A dispute over cuts to hospitals is one of the reasons Florida lawmakers had to postpone their final votes on the new state budget to this week. It was finally approved and sent to Governor Rick Scott, where its future is uncertain. Health News Florida's Stephanie Colombini talks about those hospital cuts and other key health issues this session with Kathleen McGrory, health reporter for the Tampa Bay Times.

In the latest ruling in Florida's "certificate of need" battles, an administrative law judge said this week that the state should reject a proposal by Baptist Hospital of Miami to establish an inpatient bone-marrow transplant program.

When officials at Nemours Children’ Hospital in Orlando tried to establish a pediatric heart transplant center, they learned how restricting a state law regulating the opening of new health facilities can be.

As Florida's 2017 legislative session prepares to start March 7, the debate about repealing what is known as the "certificate of need" regulatory process has expanded to include nursing homes and hospice facilities — and has touched off a new wave of lobbying by industry groups.

The House will begin moving forward next week with proposals to chip away at health-care regulations, including a plan to eliminate the controversial "certificate of need" process.

The Health Innovation Subcommittee on Wednesday is scheduled to take up a series of bills, including a measure (HB 7), filed by Rep. Alex Miller, R-Sarasota, that would eliminate certificates of need for hospitals, nursing homes and hospice facilities.

The Florida Supreme Court is declining to take up an appeal by the state Agency for Health Care Administration in a dispute about whether a Baker County hospital can challenge the approval of a potential competitor in nearby Jacksonville.

State lawmakers continue to butt heads on healthcare reform, specifically where new hospitals can be built. Both chambers want to improve access to healthcare, but they disagree on rules for hospital construction.

A Senate committee Tuesday approved a bill that could help boost efforts to build new or replacement hospitals in rural counties.

Approved by the Senate Health Policy Committee, SB 236 would expand an exemption to the state's "certificate of need" regulatory process for hospital construction or expansion projects. The state currently has a narrow exemption that applies to hospitals in counties with populations of 15,000 to 18,000 people and densities of fewer than 30 people per square mile.

Grappling with an issue that is a priority of House leaders, a Senate committee Monday stopped short of supporting the full repeal of a controversial regulatory process that helps determine whether new hospitals can be built.

As lawmakers grapple with healthcare costs, they’re taking another look at rules governing where health care centers can be built. Those rules are called certificate of need. A scaled-down version of a bill addressing certificate of need is in play, but it’s not without controversy.

The state Agency for Health Care Administration asked the Florida Supreme Court this week to take up a dispute about whether a Baker County hospital can challenge plans for a new Jacksonville medical center.

A House committee next week will start renewing attempts to pass three closely watched health-care bills, including a proposal that would eliminate the "certificate of need" process for hospitals. The longstanding regulatory process, in part, requires state approval of new or expanded hospitals.

Ruling against state health regulators, an appeals court Thursday said a Baker County hospital can challenge plans for a Jacksonville medical center that could become a competitor.

The 1st District Court of Appeal, in a 16-page ruling, sided with Baker County's Ed Fraser Memorial Hospital in a dispute that centers on a state decision in 2010 to issue what is known as a "certificate of need" for West Jacksonville Medical Center.

With Florida facing another cut next year in a key hospital-funding program, Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, said Wednesday it "remains to be seen" whether lawmakers will use state tax dollars to help deal with the reduction.

Two Broward County hospital districts are in a legal dispute about which one of them should be allowed to offer an adult kidney-transplant program, according to documents filed in the state Division of Administrative Hearings.

Bills that involve state workers' health insurance, nurse-practitioners and hospital regulations died during this week's Legislative special session because the Senate has declined to consider them.

Senate Health Policy Chairman Aaron Bean said in a statement Monday evening that his colleagues felt there wasn't time to consider major policy changes by Friday, the last day of the special session called to finish work on a state budget.

The issues contained in the House bills require "a thorough and proper vetting," said Bean, R-Fernandina Beach.

A bill that would overturn 40 years of hospital regulation in Florida is one of four contentious issues scheduled for a key House committee this morning and a Senate workshop this afternoon.

HB 31A would abolish the requirement for a state-issued “Certificate of Need” (CON) before building or expanding a hospital. It’s likely to pass the House Health and Human Services Committee this morning, since its sponsor is the committee chairman, Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford.

The Florida House unanimously approved a bill Thursday that would allow more nursing home beds. The bill (HB 287) comes as a moratorium on adding nursing home beds was set to expire, the News Service of Florida reports.

The 2001 moratorium, which used a “certificate of need” process, was designed in part to have more community-based care rather than nursing homes. The bill would end the moratorium July 1.